


Resting

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Domestic Fluff, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Sad, Sharing a Bed, Sleep Deprivation, Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 02:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5522048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After pulling a very rare all-nighter at Barts Molly goes back to Baker Street to get some sleep and is eventually joined by Sherlock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Resting

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this prompt sitting on my hard drive from **imagineyourotp** for ages (" _Imagine person A of your OTP retiring early because they're completely and utterly exhausted after an all-nighter. They sleep for a considerable length of time. Person B comes home, hours later, to find Person A asleep. Not wanting to wake Person A, they instead slip under the covers and cuddle close to person A. Person A, having anticipated this, embraces them closely and together they fall asleep as though they'd been sleeping together the whole time._ ") and I was writing to write and it just kind of...came out? I don't know. It's mostly fluffy even though there's talk of a sad accident (hence the sad tag). But really, it's mostly cute.

She was not used to pulling all-nighters. It had been a rather long time since she’d had to, not since medical school and her rotations there. It had been a perk of her going into the forensic pathology field: she had the chance to be in a specialty that had set hours, for the most part. And running the department meant she got to set the schedule, so she got to give herself the best schedule. Not that she didn’t have pity on the people who worked under her. She’d swap shifts on occasion, take a late shift or even a graveyard shift so someone else could have an evening out. She did have a heart, after all.

But tonight was different.

There’d been an explosion at a crowded event. Police had been trying to figure out if it had been accidental or intentional, and she’d been just about to go off shift but no, she’d decided to stay. She was needed, she would stay. She worked on the bodies that came into Barts until she was so tired she knew she would start making mistakes, and then she went into her office. Stamford called a cab for her, bless him; she doubted she’d have been able to drive herself back to Baker Street in this condition. Might have just ended up another body on the slab otherwise.

She dozed in the back of the cab. She knew she’d go home to an empty flat. She was fairly sure Sherlock would be at the scene. They’d been sending information back and forth to each other throughout the night and she had been leaning more towards it being an accidental explosion with her findings, and he was coming to the same conclusion, but there was still work to be done before it was all official. He was used to long, sleepless nights so she knew he’d still have energy left; he’d stay until it was all wrapped up and his services were no longer required, and then he’d come home and join her in bed.

Whether she’d wake up enough to realize he had joined her would be another matter.

The cab pulled up to Baker Street and when she went to pay the driver he refused, saying she was Holmes’s missus, no payment was necessary, it was his pleasure. She still gave him a tenner to at least put towards petrol, at her insistence, and he did take that before tipping his hat towards her. She got out of the cab and made her way to the familiar blue door, her steps heavy. Oh, she was so tired. She let herself in and then made her way to their bedroom, practically forcing herself to change into her pyjamas, her favorite red ones with the kittens playing with the balls of yarn, before pulling her hair out of her ponytail and going to the bed. She didn’t bother to pull all the covers back, just the quilt, and she slipped under that, put her head under the pillow, and shut her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, only that she felt rested but still sleepy, when she heard the bedroom door open. She didn’t bother to open her eyes, instead listening to the soft creaks in the floorboards as someone moved around. She head the dresser drawer open. It was stuck slightly, and then she relaxed. That was the drawer Sherlock kept his pyjamas in. It probably meant he was home now. She listened to the various sounds in the otherwise silence of the room: the rustle of clothing being removed and new clothing being put on. The swish of the quilt being pulled away from the sheets. The soft creak and groan of the mattress as someone settled on the bed.

When she felt the weight of Sherlock joining her she reached over and slipped her arm around his waist, scooting closer and nuzzling his neck slightly. “I tried not to wake you,” he said, bracing her arm with his.

“I’m a light sleeper when I’m sleeping alone,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to his neck. “Case all wrapped up?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “Combination of an imbecile sneaking a smoke in the loo and subpar building materials. If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of the employees and patrons the death toll could have been much higher.”

She nodded against his neck. “I’m glad,” she said. “I don’t like thinking it could have been deliberate.”

“Neither do I,” he said. He grasped her hand tightly and then brought it up, kissing her palm. “You did remarkable work, even after a full shift. We got quite far in our investigations with your help.”

“Mmm, I should have helped more,” she said, yawning slightly. “I just got so tired towards the end and I didn’t want to make mistakes.”

“A true professional knows their limitations,” he said, moving her hand to kiss each of her fingertips. “Going home and getting rest was the best course of action.” When he was done he caressed her hand. “And now I am keeping you awake.”

“Going back to sleep with you does sound like a wonderful idea,” she said, dropping a kiss on his shoulder. “I might even get a better rest that way.”

“I know I shall sleep easier since I will not be alone,” he said, lowering her hand and moving it back to his waist. “I do not sleep as easily when you are not beside me.”

“I think if I hadn’t been so drop dead tired I may not have slept at all,” she said. She shifted slightly, snuggling up against him more, and then tightened her hold on him. “Pleasant dreams, Sherlock.”

“Pleasant dreams, Molly,” he said and she drifted back to sleep, feeling more content this time. He was there with her, and she had the feeling her sleep this time would be more restorative and restful, and hopefully she would wake up feeling more refreshed.


End file.
